MLB WORLD SERIES 2009

In what wasn't much of a surprise, Los Angeles Dodgers left-fielder Manny Ramirez has decided to exercise his player option for 2010 and will return to the Dodgers next season. His agent Scott Boras let Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti know about Ramirez's decision on Friday night.

All of which means that Ramirez will make $20 million with the Dodgers rather than becoming a free agent, which is a smart move considering it's highly unlikely Manny would get that much money anywhere else next year. Manny didn't have the greatest season for the Dodgers in 2009, but Colletti is confident he'll bounce back next season.

After eight seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, 29-year-old pitcher Brett Myers will reportedly be playing for a new team in 2010. According to Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Myers has been told by Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., that he will definitely not be a Phillie next season. The report also states that Myers wasn't given a specific reason that he won't return.

Myers has spent his entire professional career in the Philadelphia organization after being selected in the first round in the 1999 draft. He went 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA and added 21 saves during his time in Philly.

The champagne is barely dry in the Yankees clubhouse, but the business of 2010 is already well under way. Three trades are in the books, a number of players have already filed for free agency and Bobby Abreu has a new deal with the Angels.

In that vein, three clubs made decisions on contract options Friday as they held on to star players for next year. The Phillies and Diamondbacks both picked up the options they held on ace pitchers Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb, respectively, while the White Sox bought out right fielder Jermaine Dye.

Chicago's World Series MVP in 2005, Dye, who will turn 36 in January, was due to make $12 million in 2010. He'll instead receive $950,000 from the White Sox and hit the open market.

The rumors started early on Thursday morning that the Kansas City Royals had agreed to trade Mark Teahen to the Chicago White Sox for Chris Getz and Josh Fields. Neither team would confirm the deal throughout the day, but 24 hours later it has become official.

Teahen and cash will be heading to Chicago for Getz and Fields. While it can't be known for sure, odds are the amount of cash the White Sox will receive from the Royals for the arbitration eligible Teahen is what kept the trade from being completed for 24 hours.

It was no secret J.J. Hardy was likely going to be traded this offseason, but most believed the Brewers would use him to acquire some desperately needed starting pitching help. Instead, they have opted to move him to Minnesota for a young center fielder -- Carlos Gomez.

Hardy, 27, fell out of favor with the Brewers this past season as he failed to meet his previously set offensive standards. He ended the season with an abysmal .659 OPS and the Brewers have uber-prospect Alcides Escobar waiting in the wings (he hit .304 in 38 big-league games last season). Thus, it made sense to move Hardy, who did hit 50 home runs in his previous two campaigns, for help elsewhere.

Last offseason, in an effort to bolster their ineffective late-inning relief, the Mets made a three-team, 12-player trade of which J.J. Putz was the centerpiece. Putz had previously been a very effective closer for the Mariners, but he would get eighth-inning duty for the Mets, considering they paid a hefty sum to bring in Francisco Rodriguez to close.

Less than one year later, it appears Putz and the Mets will go their separate ways. According to Ben Shpigel of the New York Times, the Mets will decline Putz's $9.1 million player option for 2010 and instead buy his contract out for a cool million -- making him a free agent.

NEW YORK -- The Yankees had just begun celebrating their 27th World Series title, and first in nine years (that's 63 in Yankee-drought years), when general manager Brian Cashman was asked about people saying his team bought a title.

"You can call us anything you want," Cashman said. "You're also going to have to call us world champions."

But if the Yankees' latest championship teaches us anything, it's that a big payroll is just money unless it's combined with smarts.

Here's what we can conclude off the 2009 postseason:

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Tim Lincecum was cited by the state police in Washington for possession of marijuana this week. The pot was found in his car after he was pulled over for speeding near the Oregon border on Oct. 30. It was a small amount, and the police determined that Lincecum was not intoxicated while driving, so he's been cited for misdemeanor possession. After his hearing on Nov. 23, that will likely be the last we hear of this particular incident.

Andrew Baggarly, the San Jose Mercury writer who wrote the blog entry linked above, guesses that this incident won't be much more than an embarrassment for Lincecum and that it's unlikely to affect his potential arbitration hearing early next year. He's probably right that it'd be wrong for the Giants to accuse their superstar pitcher of being a dirty hippie for having a few grams of pot in his car, but that's a funny mental image I'm stuck with and now I hope you are, too.

NEW YORK -- He has found peace to purge his demons, love when all he had was Madonna and madams and, most importantly, truth when his past was so fake and sleazy. No matter what we once thought of Alex Rodriguez, it's difficult to hold a grudge when he has achieved joy and reward the right way. In fact, allow me to propose the ultimate happy ending, something unimaginable only a few months ago but perhaps attainable if he continues to be a model citizen, a fine teammate, a grounded human being and the greatest ballplayer alive.

That would be a place in Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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With the conclusion of the World Series, it appears Major League Baseball isn't wasting any time thrusting us directly into Hot Stove season. In the midst of Mark Teahen rumors, we have been served our first actual trade. The Boston Red Sox have acquired 25-year-old outfielder Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins for pitchers Jose Alvarez and Hunter Jones.

Thus far in his career, Hermida has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that come for someone with his natural abilities. A former first-rounder once said to have five-tool potential, Hermida has hit .265 with a barely above average OPS through just over 3 1/2 seasons in the bigs. Of course, some circumstances should be considered.